Rental Review: We Are What We Are

Hoovering up the critical plaudits as only a subtitled horror film can, Mexican offering We Are What We Are chews its way on to DVD this month.

Both written and directed by Jorge Michel Grau, the flick centres in on the trials, tribulations and tastes of a family of poor market traders, who also just happen to be cannibals.

Dark, moody, gritty and not afraid of showing a bit of gore, everything is in place here for another foreign-language classic.

But does it deserve all the acclaim?

Well, yes and no.

Yes for the reasons I have described above, namely that this is about as far removed from a cheesy Hollywood effort as you could possibly imagine.

Filmed in a very dark, dimly-lit style and staging the action on dusty back streets and squalid flats, there is an air of grimness straight from the off.

The acting is in the main understated (to begin) and strong all round, right from the attention-grabbing opening sequence that shows the demise of the father of the clan.

And when the violence does come Grau certainly does not hold back, with plenty of up close gut munching and carnage.

So what exactly are the downsides here?

Well, to put it simply, the film takes an eternity to get going.

After the shocking opening we then get an hour of family squabbles that in all honesty resembles more kitchen-sink drama than anything horrific, although this is very much the calm before the storm, with the last 20 minutes or so becoming wildly over-the-top.

Despite that, We Are What We Are is certainly well worth a watch and definitely gets my recommendation.

Just be prepared to show some patience before you get to the pay-off.

Extras: Trailer

Released on March 21